Dusk
by Preferably Bitter 52
Summary: Class is in session! Experience Roxas' angsty, awkward high school years at the prestigious Destiny high, a combat highschool where students learn to defend against the heartless. However, like any high school, it isn't super useful when all Roxas is worried about is hanging out with friends, getting a job, and impressing a girl named Xion.
1. Chapter 1: The First Day pt 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts or Disney, or anything associated with it. Anyways, enjoy~**

 **Note: Think of this fic as a series of short stories that merge into one overarching narrative, the POV will gradually broaden to more and more characters along the way**

OoO=short cut

XxXX=Long cut

' _Roxas'_ =thoughts

 _Roxas_ =narration

* * *

 _I remember it now...at least part of it. It all started on that day..._

 _The day I first met you, that's when I truly, finally began to exist._

 **The First Day pt. 1**

"...Roxas!"

"..."

"ROXAS GET UP!"

"…I'm up...I'm up…" Roxas mumbled, he swung his legs on the floor and let out a giant yawn. "Huh, it's only 6:30? That means I still have...an hour…" Collapsing back on the bed, he drifted off back to sleep for a good five minutes before jumping out and running to the bathroom.

' _I don't have an hour, the bus comes in ten minutes!'_

He managed to quickly get in and out of the bathroom by washing his face in the bathroom and brushing his teeth while he took a pee.

After getting ready, Roxas threw on his backpack and went to the kitchen where Axel had migrated to with a partly chipped coffee mug in one hand and a cracked phone in the other. "You sure got ready in record time, huh?"

"Learned from the best, right? Well, I'm out."

"Hey wait," He motioned his coffee mug to an oversized key laying haphazardly on the couch. "Don't forget your, uh...thing."

"Yeah my _keyblade_?" Roxas rolled his eyes, then stuffed it inside his already crowded backpack. "Thanks. See ya."

"Later."

Taking his skateboard from the front door, he ran down the apartment steps and skated to his bus stop a few blocks away. However, by the time he got there, the bus was already rolling down the street.

"Well...here goes nothing I guess!" Roxas took his keyblade out and pointed it at the bus. "Stop!" He enchanted.

The bus stood motionless on the street, frozen in time. Roxas pumped his fist. _'Yes! It actually worked! Man, how bad would it be if I was late on the first day!'_ He boarded the bus, smirking to himself, and took a seat near the back. Moments after, time worn out its effect on the school vehicle and it was back on track to its predetermined destination; Destiny high.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. "Yo, Roxas, thought you wouldn't make it!" A boy with unruly blonde hair and attitude to match grinned back at him. "Ready to check out all the cheerleaders?"

"Hayner!" Olette, being the only sensible one, slapped him upside the head.

"Geez sorry, but you know Roxas was thinking the same thing."

"Uh...no..." He rubbed the back of his head.

Olette rolled her eyes. "Boys, right Pence?"

"Uh huh," Pence said absent-mildly, giving full attention to his new game system instead. Olette jabbed her elbow into his stomach and Pence begrudgingly put his it away, then gave Roxas a small smile.

"Thought for sure you'd be late Roxas, like on the first day of junior high," Pence said.

"I know, but I wanna start this year off well. After all, I finally get to use my keyblade for real!"

"Right, but you still gotta do your homework like a good boy!" Hayner said in mock seriousness, he ruffled Roxas' hair. "Seriously though, don't forget we're hanging out at the usual place today."

"Yeah, yeah," He cleaned his hair back up. "As long as ice cream isn't on me."

"You know the rules, last one buys," Olette said.

"That's totally gonna rip into my munny."

"Heh, have you considered getting a job," Pence said.

"It's not like Axel hasn't reminded me like every single day, besides I'm worrying about school right now."

"And by that you mean sleeping and playing video games all day."

"Ah- you know me too well."

Olette sighed. "You're hopeless Roxas."

"Hey, give me some credit."

"Right, we can always count on you being late," Hayner said.

The four shared a laugh together, and soon after, Roxas found himself staring out of the window.

Various buildings and stores dotted the street corner, becoming more scarce by the time the bus reached the highway. There, he could see tiny black creatures darting across the stalks of cornfields and hiding within the forest. ' _The heartless, they're always here…'_ He felt his eyelids growing heavy. ' _Why.'_

OoO

When he woke up again, he could see Destiny High; bursting with vibrancy and energy from the school's own cheerleading team welcoming the students and the start of a new school year.

' _Maybe highschool won't be so bad.'_ Roxas slung his backpack over his shoulders, feeling a surge of excitement. ' _Wait, why does my backpack feel so much lighter.'_

A quick look in his backpack and he realized his keyblade was missing, and a quick look outside the window and he realized what happened to it. Roxas scrambled out of the bus and approached local bully; Seifer, who was waving his keyblade around like a toy and having a stand off against Hayner.

Seifer smirked at Roxas. "Oh and here comes sleeping beauty, get enough sleep last night?"

"Give me that back, it's not yours!" Roxas yelled.

Rai and Fuu, Seifer's loyal lackeys stood in front of Roxas. "What're you doing?! Out of my way!"

Rai thumped his huge chest. "It's Seifer's keyblade now! Ain't no way a wimp like you has what it takes, y'know!"

"Finder's keepers," Fuu said in her usual shortness of words, she pulled a strand of her loose hair away from her vibrant red eyes and tucked it away behind her ear.

"You heard them." Seifer squeezed the handle of the keyblade, then slashed it in the air.

"You don't have to be an asshole about everything Seifer, you're just jealous you don't know have one!" Hayner yelled.

"That's right, will you stop being a bully," Olette said.

"Wanna bet?" He tossed the keyblade high up in the air and threw it like dart across the sidewalk. The sudden commotion caught the attention of several students and a crowd slowly began accumulating around them.

"If it's yours, go ahead, call it back. The keyblade comes back to its owner doesn't it?"

Roxas opened his clenched fist and raised his arm to beckon his blade; nothing. ' _Come on, why isn't it coming back to me?!'_ A few of the students started laughing and he felt his cheeks turning a deep shade of red. ' _No, this can't be happening!'_

"Guess the keyblade doesn't want you," Seifer said.

"That's not true!" He shot back. "It's just...not working."

"—What's with all the commotion?"

Pushing through the crowd of students was a tall, muscular young man with spiky brown hair and a handsome face to match. He held Roxas' keyblade firmly in his grasp as he faced Seifer and his gang. "You the punks giving this kid a hard time?

"Not us," Fuu said.

"Yeah, it was all Seifer's idea y'know," Rai said.

"Whatever, just get to class, looks like you need it."

A wave of relief overcame Roxas as Seifer and his gang stomped away. "Uh...thanks." He mumbled.

"No problem, don't let those guys get you down." Terra bent down to his level and gave him his keyblade back. "You'll be a fine keyblade wielder someday."

Roxas gazed at Terra's back until his image became a mere memory. "That guy...he's a keyblade weilder isn't he?"

"He was hot too," Olette said. "Did you see that muscle tone and he's a senior on top of that!"

Hayner and Pence both silently gagged to Roxas who smirked.

"Seifer's gonna give us hell next time we see him, though," Pence said.

"Yeah, but maybe next time a cute girl will come to Roxas' rescue instead!" Hayner said.

"Come on, you guys aren't giving me enough credit. After today, I'm gonna be the one coming to the rescue with my keyblade!" He ran ahead to the high school while the bell rang; class was in session.

XxXX

Roxas walked into his homeroom class just as a few other students were. Maybe it was because he hadn't stepped foot in a classroom in months, but there was something off about the presentation of the classroom, there was floral prints decorating practically every inch of the brightly lit room save for the desks which remained unscathed from overly elaborate flower patterns. He quickly wrote off the strangeness, however, when his attention focused on all the students he had to deal with for the rest of the year.

' _I remember some of these kids are from my junior high,'_ Roxas took a quick survey of the students he knew, or at least "kind of" knew. _'Sora, Kairi and Zexion, but there's a lot of new faces too.'_

Up in the front of the room was Sora, a bubbly, happy-go-lucky boy with hair even spikier than his. He was chattering away to his best friend; Kairi—distinctively quieter and more reserved than Sora, but still remained quite assertive. Their other friend, Riku, was in a higher grade, but they had no problem with making friends with practically everyone else in the class, everyone except for Zexion whose only company was an old spell he named Lexicon.

' _Yeah, same old same old.'_ Roxas eased back into his seat and took out his phone to pass the time until the teacher came.

10 minutes passed before their teacher finally came in, Mr. Marluxia; an odd man with a pretty face to compensate. He wore an all black suit with black gloves that highlighted his rather thin frame, a near unremarkable presentation, save for his pastel pink hair that flowed down to his back.

Marluxia greeted everyone with a slight bow and a devilish grin. "Greetings. As you all should know, my name is Marluxia. It's a pleasure to meet you all and to be your homeroom teacher for the first year class."

He took a moment to power on his smartboard, where a neatly put together presentation displayed on the screen. "Now, a little bit about myself. I'm 25 and I quite enjoy gardening. This is actually my first year teaching, however, I'm no stranger to combat so rest assured you're in good hands..." He trailed off when he heard the door open.

"Welcome!" He greeted. "You must be Xion, correct? Lucky for you, you didn't miss anything crucial, I was just starting my lesson."

Following his statement, a girl with short, silky black hair dragged her feet across the classroom floor. If Roxas had to guess, Xion either gotten herself ready at the last possible second or simply forgot school was today judging by her untidy uniform and unruly hair. Although, her exhausted expression hid a cute face Roxas couldn't help but gaze at as she made her way to an empty seat and dropped her head on the desk. Which inevitably caused a few students to chuckle at her expense.

 _'That girl...I wonder who she is.'_ Roxas mused.

Marluxia cleared his throat to gather the attention of his students. "At Destiny high, you will be learning academics as well as the ability to fight against the heartless. For this is no average high school, but a school where all your abilities will be refined and put to the test." He picked up a stack of papers and passed them out to each student.

"This is the curriculum for the year in my class as well as safety guidelines and general rules. You can read them in your time with your parent or guardian because they'll be needing to sign those forms." Returning to his desk, he pushed a rose vase out of the way and sat on his desk. "To start off, you won't be learning anything in my class in the traditional sense, but accumulating all your knowledge because at the end of each week, I will be taking you on a mission to defeat heartless."

He clicked on the remote and the slide shifted to one of black creatures Roxas saw earlier. "Since this is merely your first year, each mission will be personally guided by yours truly, but come time and you'll soon be assigned missions to complete."

"Hey, hey! On these missions, is it true we'll be going to different worlds?" Sora asked.

"It is. For now, we'll only be focusing on the heartless in Radiant Garden, but there are many worlds with many heartless that need to be dealt with."

"Awesome. And another question, what's so special about this—" He grabbed a scratched and dented keyblade that's seen better days from his backpack. "Like, I'm always told it's super important, but a giant key seems kind of lame."

"Excellent question. Though I won't be the one teaching you about the keyblade, I know a great deal about it. While everyone has the ability to defeat heartless, only those who wield the keyblade can truly rid the world of them. Despite its powers, it's still a tool you must learn how to wield. Any other questions, comments, concerns?"

Xion raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"When is class over?"

Marluxia smirked at her frank question. "In ten minutes, today is an early release being it the first day. In these few minutes we have, I wanted to share with you all some pictures I took my rose garden."

Roxas laid his head on his desk as images of various different roses flashed across the smart board. He glanced over at Xion, then quickly averted his eyes when she realized he was looking at her. ' _There's something about you, I know it.'_

*ring-ring

"That does it for class, remember to have your forms signed and turned into me by tomorrow."

When Roxas finally made his way outside of the classroom between, Xion was already ahead on her way down the hallway. ' _I guess I missed my chance.'_ With nothing else left to do, he glanced over his schedule.

Roxas- - - - - - - - - First Year

Period 1: Homeroom—Marluxia Room 100

Period 2: Magic studies I—Vexen Room 346

Period 3: Endurance training—Lexaeus Room 212

Period 4: All-World History—Larxene Room 406

Lunch

Period 5: Intro to heartless—Xemnas Room 308

Period 6: Gummi Block shop—Cid Highwind Room 433

Period 7: Keyblade training I—Master Eraqus Room 123

' _Looks like I'm going down this hallway to magic studies, whatever that is.'_

Vexen's "classroom" was practically a bona fide laboratory with flasks, granulated cylinders and all sorts of lab equipment cluttering the lab tables, leaving little room left for the actual classroom setting. Roxas took a seat at a lab table next to a boy with dishevelled, dirty blonde hair.

"What's up, name's Tidus, you?"

"Uh, Roxas."

"Roxas, huh. Stuck here in this mandatory class too? I'm so not into magic or whatever."

"You're telling me, I only know like one spell and it took me forever to learn."

"Good luck with that. I hear we'll be practically learning the whole book."

The moment class started, Vexen walked in with an oversized laboratory coat and a black ascot around his neck. Having a rather lanky figure, his face was bony and chiseled, like he hadn't eaten properly in weeks. When he reached his desk, he viscously glared at his students, as if they would be his next meal and said in a tone reeking with arrogance, "My name is Vexen. I have many hobbies, none of which I'll disclose, but I will say that I have an immense fondness in science."

Vexen departed from his desk, then skulked around the lab tables, appearing to take delight in his student's terrified faces. "While you children may think that real world truths are constantly at odds with the fantasy of magic, let it be known," A flame ignited in his hand. "—They're intertwined. In this class, we'll be conducting experiments, researching, and most importantly, learning spells- defensive spells, offensive spells, healing spells, including summoning spells."

His mention of summoning garnered the attention of the students. "But before you do anything of the sort. You must always start with the basics." Vexen pointed to a poster hanging on the front wall, dubbed the 'periodic table of magic elements'.

"Some of you will flourish, some of you will flounder, but all of you will learn magic, because a person who knows no magic, knows no life."

Tidus tapped Roxas on the shoulder. "This guy's a total crackhead." He whispered.

"I know, I get a bad feeling about him."

"Dude same, I bet he's like a failed scientist or something and this was the next best thing."

"—Ahem! Before I begin the obligatory review of the student handbook, are there any questions about the expectations I'll have of you?"

Naminé, a girl Roxas hadn't noticed before, raised her hand. She had a frail figure, with mid length, pale blonde hair swept across her shoulder. "No sir, but may I go to the restroom?"

Vexen rolled his eyes. "Sure. Anyone else—yes, what is your question?"

Roxas watched as Naminé walked out with a notebook in her hand. ' _That's weird, is she going to write down what her crap looks like?'_ He chuckled to himself.

"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, boy?"

He stared blankly at the teacher. "Who, me?"

"Yes you, well spit it out."

' _Come one, why'd I have to be put on the spot like this.'_ "N-Nothing, I just uh, can I go to the bathroom?"

"Fine, whatever. You teenagers are all so predictable."

Roxas made his walk of shame to the door while the class slipped in a few snickers of their own, once he was out, he breathed a sigh of relief. _'Why does embarrassing stuff always happen to me.'_ He saw Naminé sitting across the hallway, scribbling something down in her notebook, a sketchbook more likely.

"Some bathroom break," Roxas muttered, he approached her. "Skipping class already?"

Naminé set her pencil down. "Something like that, you're Roxas, aren't you?"

"That's right, and. You're Naminé...so whatcha drawing?" He tried to peek over her sketchbook, but she quickly pressed it on her chest. "Aw come on, you won't even give me a sneak peek?"

"I...don't really like to show other people my drawings."

"Guess there's no winning you over, but what's wrong with drawing in class?"

"Nothing I just wanted to get out." She stood up. "This is goodbye for now, Roxas, I think the school day is over for me. Sorry for leaving on such short notice."

"Didn't take you for the rebellious type."

She gave him a small smile. "Listening to authorities was never something I was particularly good at."

And then she was gone.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you so much for reading thus far, I really appreciate it. I'm excited for this story and I hope you all will stay tuned;)**


	2. Chapter 2: The First Day pt 2

**The First Day pt. 2**

The rest of the day went by like a blur, after Vexen's ramblings, he was subjected to what was practically boot camp with how the silent Lexaeus ran his class. All-world history was a total snoozefest in comparison, anything related to history was never his strong make it even worse, Larxene had already assigned homework for them to complete by tomorrow.

Determined to slack off after school, Roxas brought his school materials to lunch with the intention of finishing all his homework. He found his friends sitting outside by a towering oak tree in the field and took his papers out before even thinking twice about the greasy cheese pizza for lunch.

"Geez Roxas, you even know what you're doing?" Hayner asked after watching his friend stare hopelessly at his homework since lunch began.

Olette giggled. "Yeah, you've been stuck on the first question for like ten minutes."

"I might of not been paying attention in class, but it shouldn't be _this_ hard. Like, who is the king of 'Disney world'? I don't even know what that place is."

"Tough, maybe you should've paid attention in class." Pence said. "And the answer is King Mickey."

"That's one down, nine to go." A weak smile formed across his face in an attempt to humor himself. "Hope she doesn't take this for a grade."

"She probably will, Ms. Larxene is a psycho path."

"You're telling me. She hates my guts already and did you see that look she gave me when I didn't know the answer to that one question? I gotta few names for her..."

"Yeah, heh, it's gonna be a long year with her."

"So anything exciting happen so far or what? I know I was practically falling asleep so far," Hayner said.

"Not really, but, there's this girl named Xion and...I can't stop thinking about her."

"Ooooh~"

"Shut up, not like that!"

"Well I know Xion, sort of," Olette chimed in. "She's in my iteam properties class, black hair and blue eyes, right?"

"Yeah that's right!"

"You'll probably see her again, there's a class for keyblade wielders, right? Apparently she can wield one too."

OoO

Thoughts of Xion lingered in his mind as he trudged from lunch class to class. Finally his last period dawned upon him; Keyblade Training I. When he walked in, Master Eraqus, greeted Roxas with a stern handshake, he was a seasoned old man donning a formal kimono, further highlighting his status and prowess as master. The classroom wasn't much of a class either, but a training dojo that happened to have room for a few tables and desks which Eraqus happily piled all sorts of wooden weapons and tools on them.

Before wandering further into the dojo, Roxas slipped off his sneakers and stepped on the tatami mat where the rest of the students were. The class, not including himself, consisted only of 7 students less that half of which he knew by name, but the only one who mattered to him was the girl leaning on the back wall, texting on her phone.

"H-hey!" Roxas croaked, suddenly feeling anxious. "Didn't know you could wield a keyblade!"

Xion took her eyes off her phone screen and looked up at Roxas. She was amused he'd taken notice of her, but nonetheless had an air of disdain for his presence. "I didn't know I could either. It was an accident, but as soon as they saw it, they enrolled me in this class." Roxas could tell there was disappointment in her voice, but she smiled in a cheeky little way. "Guess I'll just enjoy my time here while I can, right?"

"What's that supposed to mean..."

"—AHEM!" Eraqus walked across the mat and stood in front of the students. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Eraqus, a keyblade master. Each of you have a gift that very few people in this world share and that is..." A steel, sleek keyblade materialized in his hand. "The keyblade. This world is wrought with darkness and only those who posses the keyblade can truly rid them from this world and keep the peace."

"That's fine and all, I suppose," Said a mysterious boy by the name of Xehanort. "But the heartless have a reason for being here, don't they? Just like how we have the keyblade, we wouldn't be very good peacekeepers if we're disrupting the balance."

"I understand your thought process however, no such balance exists. The heartless roam the realm of light and terrorize its denizens. While you have the power to defeat the darkness, it is your choice to use it in any way you choose. My job is that you don't end up destroying the world as we know it in your pursuits as a keyblade wielder."

"I see." _'Even so, the darkness can't be all that bad.'_

"Oh, then I got a question too!" Ephemer, a boy with a head full of curly, silver hair and a higher ambition to match, waved his hand in the air. "Are we gonna learn how to unlock hearts and things like that?"

"Ha ha, looks like this year's class has done their homework. The answer lies in the question, what exactly is the keyblade?"

"An oversized key!" Sora yelled out.

"Heh, that is a fine physical description, but what _is_ the keyblade? Why is it not like a regular weapon?"

"Because it's a sword that has the properties of a key." Kairi answered. "And the keyblade can unlock anything."

"Yes, and that anything includes hearts. The keyblade has the ability to unlock and seal a heart, it's why they're the only effective tool against the heartless, and why they pose a great danger as much as they grant miracles. If not used properly, you could incidentally end up destroying yourself and become the very heartless we pursue. That's the reality of what it means to be a keyblade wielder. The heartless are what gives us purpose."

"Well I believe that suffices for my lesson. Thank you for your time, with so may new keyblade wielders than last year, I have a feeling this year will be quite interesting!"

Roxas turned to Xion, skeptical. "Like a bunch of teenagers are gonna be responsible with some magic, destiny shattering key, right? Give it a week and that kid with the long white hair's gonna try to turn his teachers into heartless."

Xion snickered. "Still, must be nice to be so confident."

*ring-ring

"See you tomorrow, right?" Xion asked.

"Right...try not to be late this time."

"Hm, I won't make any promises."

Xion disappeared down the hallway with a stupid smile stuck on her face. Roxas wanted to follow her, to know when she was going at least, but he couldn't muster up the courage to even ask. So he left school alone and made his way down the street, there, he could see Hayner, Pence, and Olette were already well on their way to the usual spot.

' _Great, looks like I'm buying again.'_ Roxas took his skateboard out and boarded down the opposite direction to the shopping district. He took his phone out in the meantime.

Roxas: _Hey, I'm going to the shopping district, need anything?_

Axel: _Out of school already?_

Roxas: _yeah, it was an early release. First day and all_

Axel: _K_ _, get some milk and ramen while you're out,_

Axel: _And try not to hurry back home, I got company :)_

Roxas: _ew_

Roxas crammed his phone back into his pocket, then pushed on the ground to gather up speed. He made a sharp turn down to the outer road which would lead him to the shopping district much faster than taking the main road. Much to his surprise, he saw Xion chugging along on a bicycle a little ways down the street.

 _'Is that really...yeah, it has to be!'_ He leaned forward in an attempt to go faster, before he could reach her, however, she suddenly fell over and tumbled down onto the asphalt.

"Xion!" Roxas yelled, falling off of his skateboard his self in a rush to get to her, he scrambled over to her side and helped her up.

"You ok?"

"Yeah...thanks."

"Oh and uh, before you get the wrong idea, I definitely wasn't stalking you or anything."

"Wait, what?! Ugh, nevermind, we have bigger problems to worry about- look!" Xion pointed to the purple haze surrounding her bike. Soon, tiny black creatures with beady yellow eyes clawed out from the depths of the darkness.

"Blizzard!" With a flick of the wrist, a ball of crystallized ice spiraled from her palm and shattered on the heartless, freezing the imminent shadows onto the ground. "Roxas, remember, only the keyblade can destroy them!"

"Right!" He took his keyblade out of his backpack, holding the handle tightly, he closed his eyes. "Here goes nothing!" The keyblade shot like a bullet when it released from his grasp, slicing through the heartless as if they were nothing. As soon as it was gone, it came back to his hand, like it had never left.

Roxas stared at his keyblade, a wide grin stretching across his face. ' _It came back to me...it really did!'_

"Roxas, look out!" Xion tackled him into the ground and rolled him out of the way, just narrowly escaping a large fist that would've otherwise flattened them to the ground. Roxas gawked absent-mindedly at the massive heartless that towered before them, easily outclassing the shadows he struck down earlier.

It stomped towards them, shaking the earth and its giant, bulbous body with each step, earning it the name 'large body'. Xion shook Roxas back and forth who was still out of it. "Snap out of it!" She cried. "We have to do this together if we want to survive."

Her voice brought him back to reality and his keyblade materialized within his grasp. Roxas used his keyblade to guard against the large body as it swung its fist at them, angered, it began hammering down on Roxas' keyblade. Each weighty swing pounding down harder and harder on his blade. _'No, I can't let this thing win for her sake.'_ Mustering up all of his strength, he yanked the keyblade back and he head butted the large body.

Having no skull to speak, his rather impulsive attack didn't hurt him nearly as much as the large body who was temporarily stunned. Using this brief moment to his advantage, Roxas furiously began stabbing it and yet, despite his ferocity, it appeared to still not be affected by the keyblade.

Roxas hopelessly looked back to Xion. "Now what'll we do?!"

"We fall back!"

Enraged, the largue body in a bout of unnaturally fast speed bulldozed towards the teenagers who were in the process of gathering distance between them. Eventually, the large body slowed down before they could and it started recharging its energy in a second attempt to attack.

"That should give us a break." She faced Roxas. "Listen Roxas, since this heartless is obviously immune to attacks on it's stomach we should try its back and use magic that would stop it in his tracks."

"Eh, I'm not so confident with my magic...I think you should try!"

"Me? No...my magic won't be strong enough by itself."

Roxas pressed his keyblade into her palm. "Then use my keyblade to amplify your magic."

"Wh-what?! Are you crazy?! What'll you use to defend yourself?"

"I know-" He picked up a stray stick he found lying on the grass. "This should work!"

"Roxas...that's a stick."

"It doesn't matter, I believe in you. That's how I know I'll be ok!"

"O-Ok...then don't worry about it, Roxas!" _'Even if physical attacks won't work, I know what will.'_ She used the keyblade to channel a powerful lightning spell that produced such a potent shock, it paralyzed the mountainous large body down to its spine, making it fall over and emit a powerful thump that thundered across the air.

Xion threw Roxas his keyblade back, then winked at him. "That's your cue!"

"Right...you got it!" Roxas leaped high up into the air and drove his keyblade right into its vulnerable black. The large body began flailing its massive arms around until they dropped to its side and the once giant mass of darkness and hatred dispersed into nothing more than a tiny, fragile heart.

"Whew!" Exhausted, Xion let herself fell onto the soft grass. "So...that's the power of the keyblade."

Roxas stared at the black substance dripping off his keyblade He clenched the handle. ' _I don't know how, but I did that. Maybe because...'_ He gazed at Xion. ' _Maybe because I had someone I needed to protect.'_

Xion smiled. "Hey, I guess I can wield the keyblade after all and I have you to thank for that."

"Uh...it's no big deal, I'm glad to help..." He rubbed the back of his head. "Besides, the only reason I could do things I did was because of you. That's where I found the strength to fight."

Xion shyly looked away, blushing. "That was so cheesy...but, thanks."

"Yeah, so how'd you learn to fight like that? You looked hella cool."

She thought for a moment. "This may sound weird, but from my job."

"Your job?"

"Instead of having a store meeting, we go through self defense training so we don't become a liability since my boss is kind of a..." Her eyes went wide with horror and she scrambled over to her bike. "Sorry for leaving on such short notice, it was nice hanging out, but I really have to leave!"

"Y-Yeah." ' _Where is she going off in such a hurry? And what was she gonna say!'_ He picked his skateboard up and let those thoughts pass by him as he continued down the outer road to paopu street where sea-salt parlor was—a town favorite ice shop he and his friends frequented practically every day. He walked inside and was surprised to see Xion yet again working the cash register wearing the most dorkiest uniform imaginable.

Xion pleasantly smiled at Roxas when he approached him, but her eyes told him she wanted to drop dead. "H-Hello! Welcome to sea-salt parlor where we make your salty day...sweet…" She said weakly.

"Heh, you look uncomfortable." Roxas rested his arms on the counter. "How long have you been working here?"

"About a year so far...I've seen you here every day too. Now it just feels weird since we know each other."

"Right...hey, you guys hiring?"

"Mm hm! I'll get you an application here- oh, and I'll go get my boss, he'll love to hear someone actually wants to work here!"

XxXX

*click

*shut

"You sure are late kiddo, you know I was just kidding about the whole company thing, right? So how was your day, you look exhausted."

"I'll tell you about it while you fill out these permission slips or whatever." He dropped a stack of papers on the kitchen table.

"What? Now I gotta do homework too? I bet it's just a bunch of stuff basically saying if you die it's not their fault."

"Probably and you can quit nagging me about getting a job now because I found the perfect place!"

"And where would that be?"

"Sea-salt parlor, this guy named Saïx said he needs all the help he can get."

All the permission slips burned to a crisp in an unexpected fire, Roxas gawked wide-eyed at the now ashes Axel was supposed to sign. "Axel! What was that for?!"

"Huh? Sorry, I had no idea, I just haven't heard _that_ name in awhile."

"Who, Saïx?"

The entire kitchen table burned under his hand and was now ashes lying on the floor. "Heh heh, guess we're going furniture shopping tomorrow?"

"You think?!"


End file.
